Pikes Peak Region Events

This event creates a fun learning environment for the whole family and inspires the next generation of astronomy enthusiasts!

All outdoor activities are free to the public.

Activities include:

• Constellation Tubes, Yarn Constellations and more!
• Night Sky Viewing: Crescent moon, Venus setting, Orion & Andromeda
• Science On a Sphere® presentations

Homeschool Day activities include:

• Guest speaker Jeff Gonyea, creator of Zack and Zoey Adventures, presents his magazine “S.T.E.M. to Bloom” at 10:30 a.m.
• Science On a Sphere® presentation: Kinesthetic Astronomy
• STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) activities and crafts.
• Make your own telescope and constellations in our AGI classroom.
• Explore our universe by learning how light travels in our Educational Activity Center
• and more!

Come and discover how astronomy influences our everyday life.

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival is a spectacular event. Come watch ice sculptors carve ice into beautiful works of art that will amaze you. 2020 marks the 13th year for this premiere event.

Past themes have included a Mythological Wonderland, Story Time, Under the Sea, a Military Salute Carved in Ice, a Rocky Mountain Wonderland, the Old West and a Safari theme.

This year’s theme is going to be “Carver’s Choice”!

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival features numerous fun events to enjoy throughout the two event weekends. Interactive sculptures are available for event attendees to climb on for a selfie or group photo.

And don’t forget the ice slide for kids! Street vendors have just the perfect thing to bring home as a memento of your visit here, and you can enjoy refreshing  beverages in our heated beer tent.

Also – Don’t miss the Ice & Art Fest at the Heritage Center from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. daily throughout Ice Fest. Meet the Artists Saturday, February 8 from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Hors-d’oeuvres and wine will be served, along with live music.

The Colorado Midland Railway was the first standard gauge line into the Colorado Rockies.  At its peak it was 261 miles long and had two branches. The route began in Colorado City, went on to Leadville and then crossing through the Continental Divide via the Hagerman Tunnel it continued on to Basalt and terminated at New Castle, Colorado.

The first contract for construction was awarded on April 6, 1886. The construction in Colorado Springs started in July of 1886 with 3000 men spread between Colorado City and Buena Vista. Eight months later, the track was completed to Woodland Park and made it to Florissant on March 23, 1887.

In Lake George, the tracks through the 11 Mile Canyon weren’t completed until about June and then continued on to Buena Vista, reaching that point in July. Eleven Mile Canyon was the deadliest stretch of the Midland in El Paso, Park and Teller Counties. “Midland Railroad Tragedies” will address some of those many accidents in our area.

Steve Plutt, local historian, will present an interesting program on this piece of Teller County history at the Cripple Creek District Museum’s February Visits with History talk. Steve has long lived in the shadow of Pikes Peak, having grown up ​​in the Woodland Park area. Steve now resides near Lake George.​

The Cripple Creek District Museum invites you to learn more about the Midland Railroad and the tragedies which befell the line at the CCDM history talk.

This program is presented as a public service of the Cripple Creek District Museum in partnership with the City of Cripple Creek.

Refreshments will be served.

Served in conjunction with a three course meal, this murder mystery will set the tone for a fun and romantic Valentine's Day! There will even be prizes for the best dressed and mystery solvers. Don't miss out!

Our show, “Death by Valentine:  A Murder Mystery”, is a “Red Hot” Valentine’s Day Gala hosted by the owners of the Iron Springs Chateau, Mr. and Mrs. Maximillian and Darla Sweet.

They, along with their son, Romeo, have hired the infamous pianist, Dr. Cornelius Love, to play throughout the evening of the Gala.  As always, The Iron Springs Chateau’s award winning chef, Julia Smiles, will be whipping up delicious fare in an unforgettable 3 course meal that will delight every palate.

• Dinner starts with Appetizers in the Gold Mine room: Fruit, Cheese & Meat Trays, Caprese Bites, and Stuffed Mushrooms
• The main course continues in the Chateau Room:  Choice of:  Baron of Beef, Chicken Cordon Blue or Pasta Primavera with or w/o Salmon
• Choice of: Baked Potato or Rice Pilaf
• Vegetable:  Broccoli with Parmesan
• Dessert is served in the Theater:  Choice of:  Strawberry Shortcake or Death by Chocolate

The Red Hot Valentine’s Day Gala is going to be a night to remember.  We look forward to seeing you there!

There will be museum access from 6 p.m. to Science Riot showtime.

Pre-Show Activities:

• VIP gallery access prior to Science Riot show time
• Science On a Sphere® presentation
• Demonstration station: “Science Bets You Can Make With Friends”
• Networking, food truck eats and cash bar drinks.

The show begins at 8 p.m.

The food truck on site will be PigLatin Cocina Food Truck and it will be a cash bar only.

This event is for adults 18 and older and you must be age 21 with valid I.D. to consume alcoholic beverages.

Are you an aspiring gumbo chef or a professional that’s got this nailed down?

Join in the fun at gumbo cook-off and show us what you’ve got! If you are better-suited to snacking, then come taste what our 20 gumbo chefs have cooked up in the park and vote for your favorite. Samples are a mere 50¢ each!

Make sure to stick around after the Cook-Off when Manitou Avenue will fill up with spectators to watch the Mardi-Gras Parade.

It’s tradition in Manitou Springs to march down Manitou Avenue and celebrate Mardi Gras in true fun and funky color that Manitou is known for! So grab your beads and costume-up with us! The more the merrier, so bring your family, your neighbors, your co workers, your friends, everyone!

Let’s take a look at Earth and Mars from a new perspective…from space! Join us for more STEM activities for the whole family too!

Activities include:

• Special guest Alex Bjoek, from the World Wildlife Federation. He’ll be sharing with us information about sustainability on planet Earth and how it pertains to us.
• Science On a Sphere® presentations; Earth and Mars
• STEAM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) activities and crafts
• Weather simulations with NCAR satellites and Sally Ride EarthKAM in AGI Space Missions Simulation Laboratory
• Explore Earth’s rising seas and land cover, and create a Martian headband in the Educational Activity Center
• And many more activities

Join us for Spring Break at the Discovery Center! We'll be talking about everything cool about space.

Learn and experience:

• Robots
• Exploring Mars
• Coding
• 3D printing creativity zone
• Fly drones

Experience daily themed learning labs to get your kids hands-on experience with their favorite parts of space! Adult supervision is required at all times during Spring Break.

Food Truck (Smothered & Covered Concessions):

Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

90-minute lab session times:

Daily Lab Session a.m.: 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Daily Lab Session p.m.: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Topics Throughout the Week:

• Tuesday: Robots
  • Scribblebots
  • Spheros
  • Ozobots
• Wednesday: Mars
  • Google Mars
  • Mars Map
  • Mars Robotics Laboratory
• Thursday: Coding
  • Human Coding
  • Spheros
  • Ozobots
  • Hours of Code
• Friday: 3D Printing
  • 3D Modeling
  • 3D Printing
  • Tinkercad
• Saturday: Drones
  • Mars Rovers
  • Underwater Drone Laboratory

This event is for adults ages 21 and older.

Activities:

• Meet Astronauts
• Virtual Reality Demos
• Interactive Space Activities
• Food and Drinks
• Silent Auction

Admission includes one drink ticket, food, and all activities.

Colorado Springs Westside comes to life as Territory Days comes to Old Colorado City on Memorial Day Weekend. For more than 40 years, Territory Days has been Colorado's largest street fair!

Shop hundreds of unique vendors with handcrafts from around the world. Enjoy great food, dozens of educational displays, Native American entertainment, Wild West characters, patriot tributes and live music from 25 bands on four stages.

Bring the whole family and celebrate the spirit of the Old West. Come be part of the history. Produced by your friends at Pro-Promotions.

One of the state’s largest craft vendor fairs is highlighted with features including gold panning, mechanical bull, kids play area, Cowboy Church Service, toy train rides, live blacksmithing, period costumed characters, live birds of prey, native American dancers, beer gardens with live music, and so much more!

2020 will be the 89th annual Donkey Derby Days celebration! It tops the list of favorite Cripple Creek events. People from all over the world descend on downtown, drawn by a chance to watch a race inspired by the town’s resident donkey herd, believed to be distant relatives of the original donkeys from the town’s Gold Rush days. Enjoy games, live entertainment, and heritage competitions!

The origins of this popular Colorado donkey festival date back to the 1930's, when local businessman Charley Lehew thought a Cripple Creek festival would attract people in the summer months. It wasn’t long before he and two business partners settled on donkey racing. Together, they built a race track, solicited advertising and arranged concessions and entertainment in time for the first-ever Donkey Derby Days festival.

Today, this jamboree is one of the most popular of all the Cripple Creek events held throughout the year, and admission to this exciting Cripple Creek festival is 100% FREE.

The donkey races aren’t the only things going on over the weekend, however. Visit street vendors, enjoy live entertainment and participate in a host of other family activities, such as heritage competitions and activities for children–guaranteed to make the Donkey Derby Days weekend a memorable event.